Smoke box structure



Sept. 4, 1945. LE RoY THOMPSON v 2,384,407 I SMOKE BOX STRUCTURE Filed May 20, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept 4, 1945 I L E ROY THOMPSON 2,384,401gi SMOKE BOX STRUCTURE Filed May 20, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV NTOR wmwm O ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1945 SMOKE BOX STRUCTURE Le Roy Thompson, Blakely, Ga., assignor to Loco- I motive Economizer Corporation, New York, N. Y.,.a corporation of Delaware Application May 20, 1944', Serial No; 536,465

4 claims.

This invention relates to locomotive smoke box structures and is concerned more particularly with a novel smoke box structure which includes means for preventing incandescent',4 cinders'from being-discharged fromv the smoke stack. The new structure eliminates the fire hazard that would arise from the presence of live cinders' in the discharge and it accomplishes Aits intended function Without loss of locomotive efficiency. At the same time, it permits easy access to the interior of the smoke box for inspection, vclean-- ing, and testing purposes.

In my Patent No. 2,104,958, issued January 11, 1938, I disclosed a smo-ke' box structure for eliminating live cinders from the stack discharge of a locomotive and the patented structure includes partition means within the smoke box for directing the gases of combustion in their travelfrom the rear end of the smoke box to the stack. The partition means dene passageways including louvre plates extending across the path of flow of the gases in such fashion that live cinders borne along by the gases impinge upon the plates at maximum speed and are broken up as a result of such impingement. In Vthe patented structure, there is a bank of louvre plates lying transversely of the smoke box and the bank of plates extends from the bottom of the smoke box toa point near the top of the usual inspectiondoor opening in the front wall of the smoke box. The gases traveling forwardly through the smoke boxpass along opposite sides of the partition means and then reverse their direction of travel and pass between the louvres mentioned. In addition, some of the gases may flow between louvre plates in opposite walls of the partition means adjacent the stack. VThis arrangement hasproven highly effective for the purpose but the bank of louvre plates at the front end of vthe smoke box cuts off ready access to the space inside the.partition, within which lies the injection nozzle. According-Y ly, when this space is to be inspected orcleaned or the injection nozzle is to be` capped for testing purposes, the bank of louvres at the forward end of the smoke box must be removed.

The present invention is directed to the provision of a novel smoke box structure which serves the same purposes and produces the same results as that disclosed in the patent but is so arranged that access to the injection nozzle and the space around it can be had through the door at the front end of the smoke box without the removal of any parts. f l

Forl a better understanding of :the invention.

reference may be had to the' accompanying draw- Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line 3-'3 'of Fig. 1.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings, l

the smoke box includes the usual casing l0 which isimounted on the forward end of the locomotive boiler.v The front end wall- |I` of the boiler forms the rear Wall of theV smoke box andthe boiler flues open into the smoke box through' wall II. At its forward end, the smoke box is closed by a front wall I2 having a central opening closed by a hinged inspection door I3. A stack extension I4 extends" downwardly through the top of the smoke box into the interior thereof and an injection nozzle I5 extends upwardly through thebottom wall of the smoke box in alignment with the stack extension.-

The gases issuing ,from the flues are directed to the stack by partition means including a vertical partition Wall IB which extends fromv the front'wall at one side of the axis of the smoke box backwardly to the rear -of the stack extension and' then forwardly to the front wall at the other side of the `axis ofthe smoke box. 'I'he wall includes frontV sections 16a, Ib, which lie parallel vto onev another, intermediate rearwardly convergent-, sections IBC,- I6d, and a rear end section which has the form of the are of a circle drawn about a center on the axis of the smoke box and' of less radius than half the distance between the: front sections I 6a, I6b. Openings I1 are formed inthe lower front corners ofthe sections I6a, I6b, and through these openings, access may be had to the space Within partition lli.`r The upper ends of the openings I1 lie below the Vplane ofthe top of the inspection door I3 andr in the construction illustrated, lie somewhat below'the center ofthe door opening. By forming the partition Wall 'with the arcuate rear'section I 6e and the forwardly divergent sections I 6c, I6d ahead of it, the passages along the sides of the partition between it and the inner wall of the smoke box cause the gases issuing lfroml the boiler nues to travel with smooth non-turbulen flow to the openings Il; v

A pair of plates I8, I9 extend from the upper edges of the legs of partition Wall I6 outwardly to the wall of I the smoke boxv and a plate 20 having a curved upperedge extends upwardly from the plate is made up of a pair of flanges lying at right" angles to one another and the plates are mounted spaced apart in nesting relation so toV dene a tortuous passages between adjacent plates.

A plurality of banks of horizontal v limi/,re plates are also mounted around the edges of openings?- I'I to span the space between the front sections Ilia, I6b of partition I6. In the construction shown, there are three banks of such plates, with the lowermost bank 23a extending vertically andv the next higher bank 23h extending forwardly at a slight angle to the vertical. The third'. bank 23o extends downwardly and: forwardly from the upper end of the intermediate bank 23h tothe plane of the front wall of the smoke boxiat; the lower edge ofv the inspectiondoor opening.. The space between the lower ends of walls Ia, IEb is closed by a partition 24 which may extend from the bottom louvre plate in the lowermostbank 23a to the inner surfaceV of the smoke box wall.v

With the construction described, the hot; gases of combustion issuing"` from the boiler flues and entering the smoke box through thefrear wall pass forwardly along opposite sides of the partition IIiv below the-horizontal platessl, -I9 and a portion of the gases Amay pass through the louvre plates 22 into the sDaGe inside the partition and thence into` the stack. Other portions of the gases continue forwardly below plates I8, I 9 to the opening I1 and then turn inwardly and reverse their direction `of flowy and passY between the louvre plates of the banks; 23a, 23b, 23e into the space within partition I6. As the gases are about `to pass through the louvrejplates ofthe several banks, the gases chafnge direction andthe cinders borne along byV the' gases strike the sur'- faces of the plates.1v Asa result, the cinders are broken up and crushed bythe impact and the particles are made` smaller, so that when they emerge fromy the stack, they areno longer incandescent and present no fire hazard'. f z

With the new structure, thefinterior of the smoke box is readilyaccessible; through the in'- spection door in the front wall, since none of the banks of louvres mounted along the `edges vof openings I1 interfere. The ,total number: of louvres in these banks is somewhat less thanxthe total number at the front ofthe smoke box in the prior construction, but this-reduction lin the number of louvresand of the total area. between them for the passage of' gases is counterbalanced by increasing the size of the openings in which louvres 22 are mounted.` -I have found thatA these changes in no way impair the efliciency of the locomotive or the effectiveness ofthe structure as a means for eliminatinglive cinders and-the ease with which access to the interior of the smoke boxmay be had for inspection and clean-v ing and capping of the injection'. nozzle, when the locomotive is to be subjected tofhydraulic` testing, makes the new structure more advantageous than the prior one. f

In the structure disclosed in my patent, the partition means includes a front. wall formed of banks of louvre plates extending from the bottom .I alongthe edges of openings I1 is somewhat less of the smoke box to a relatively high level above the lower end of the stack extension. With this arrangement, access to the space behind the banks of louvre plates and, in particularl to the injection nozzle, can be had only by removing the I banks of plates. With the present arrangement, the front sections Ilia, I6b of partition I6 do not have openings adjacent the front. wall of the smoke stack which run from topto bottom of the walls; instead, the openings I1 are formed only in the lower front corners of walls Isa, I6b, so

`vthat the banks of louvres 23a, 23h, 23e terminate atfsuch alevel as to permit ready access into the Ainterior of the casing through the inspection door.

', Ihegtota-lv number of louvres in the banks mounted than the total number at the front of the smoke box inthe prior construction. This reduction in the number ofV louvres and the spaces between them for the passage of the gases in the new structure is counterbalanced by increasing the size Tof. the openings in which the louvre plates 22 are mounted. I have found that these changes in nol Way impair the eli'iciency of the locomotive or the ei'ectiveness of the structure as a means for eliminating live cinders. At the same time, the new arrangement facilitates inspection and cleaninglof the interior of the. smoke box and the cappingY of the injection nozzle when the locomotive is to, be subjected toy hydraulic testing.

1. In a locomotive structure including a smoke box having a front end closed by a front wall provided with a central opening closable by a door, and a smoke stack and an injection nozzle arranged in vertical alignment in the top and bottom,/ respectively, of the smoke box betweenits front and4 rear ends, partition means for directing' the products of combustion from. the rear of the smoke box to the stack and comprising. vertical 'walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the smoke box to abover the level of the lower end of the stack, the vertical walls extending around thestack to the rear thereof and forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box at their upper ends, said vertical walls having openings in their front lower corners adjacent said front wall, top walls extending outwardly from the upper edges ofv the vertical walls to the inner surface of the smoke box, the top walls extending forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box, a transverse partition extending upwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls at the rear end thereof to the inner surface of the smoke box, louvre plates mounted in, openings in the vertical walls at opposite sides of the stack, and louvre plates mounted along the edges of the openings in the lower front corners of the vertical walls and spanning the space between said vertical walls, whereby all gases entering the openings in the corners of the vertical walls pass between louvre plates in their travel to the stack.

2. In a locomotive structure including a smoke box having a front end closed by a front wall provided l'with a central opening closable by a door, and a smoke stack and an injection nozzle arranged in vertical alignment in the top and bottom, respectively, of thevsmoke box between its front and rear ends, partition means for directing the products 0f combustion from the rear of the smoke box to the stack and comprising vertical walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the smoke box to above the level of the lower end of the stack, the vertical walls extending around the stack to the rearthereof and forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box at their upper ends, said vertical walls having openings in their front lower corners adjacent said front wall, the tops of the openings lying below the level of the top of the central opening through the front wall of the smoke box, top walls extending outwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls to the inner surface of the smoke box, the top walls extending forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box, a transverse partition extending upwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls at the rear end thereof to the inner surface of the smoke box, louvre plates mounted in openings in said vertical walls at opposite sides of the stack, and louvre plates mounted along the edges of the openings in the lower front corners of said vertical walls and spanning the space between said vertical walls, whereby all gases entering the openings in the corners of the vertical walls pass between the louvre plates in their travel to the stack.

3. In a locomotive structure including a smoke box having a front end closed by a front wall provided with a central opening closable by a door, and a smoke stack and an injection nozzle arranged in vertical alignment in the top and bottom, respectively, of the smoke box between its front and rear ends, partition means for .directing the products of combustion from the rear of the smoke box to the stack and comprising vertical walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the smoke box to above the level of the lower end of the stack, the vertical walls 'extending around the stack to the rear thereof and forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box at their upper ends, said vertical walls having openings in their front lower corners adjacent said front wall, top walls extending outwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls to the inner surface of the smoke box, the top walls extending forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box, a transverse partition extending upwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls at the rear end thereof to the inner 'surface of the smoke box, a similar transverse partition extending upwardly from the top edges of the vertical walls at the forward end thereof to the inner surface of the smoke box, vertical louvre plates mounted in openings in the vertical walls at opposite sides of the stack, and horizontal louvre plates mounted along the edges of the Openings in the lower front corners of the vertical walls and spanning the space between said vertical walls, whereby all gases entering the openings in the corners of the vertical walls pass between the louvre plates in their travel to the stack.

4. In a locomotive structure including a smoke box having a front end closed by a front wall provided with a central opening closable by a door, and a smoke stack and an injection nozzle arranged in vertical alignment in the top and bottom, respectively, of the smoke box between its ends, the combination of partition means for directing the products of combustion from the rear of the smoke box to the stack and comprising vertical walls rising from the bottom of the smoke box to above the level of the lower end of the stack, said walls including parallel front sections meeting the front wall of the smoke box at their upper ends and having openings at their lower front corners, rearwardly convergent intermediate wall sections extending from the rear edges of the parallel sections, and a curved rear end section joining the rear ends of the intermediate sections, top walls extending outwardly from the upper edges of said vertical walls to the inner surface of the smoke box, the top walls extending forwardly to the front wall of the smoke box, a transverse partition extending upwardly from the top walls at the rear end of the vertical walls to the inner surface of the smoke box, louvre plates mounted in openings in the intermediate wall sections at opposite sides of the stack, and louvre plates mounted along the edges of the openings in the lower front corners of the parallel wall sections and spanning the space between said wall sections, whereby all gases entering said openings pass between the louvre plates in their travel to the stack.

LE ROY THOMPSON. 

